“The local park where our astronomy club’s observatory is located is building a huge equestrian center, which is going to make all but the brightest stars and the planets invisible. .”
I feel for you. Used to be in Central Tx with somewhat dark sky now on Tx coast with humidity a problem.
I can somewhat understand the equestrian center as there is more money in that than people know/understand.
I am not that far from places were people spend a lot of money on roping, cutting and barrel racing horses. Think thousands of $$$$ for the horse, trailer, truck, etc.
Think thousands of $$$$ for the horse, trailer, truck, etc.
I know. Growing up, we had horses. Dad, my brother, and I rode on the weekends. Hay was a lot cheaper than today. Factor in horseshoeing, vet bills and tack, it got expensive. My brother and I moved on to girls, and that was the end of the horses, lol. Mom was scared of horses and Dad wouldn’t ride by himself, so he ended up selling them. Fast forward years later, my brother has the property and he and his wife had horses for a while. Now he just boards them.
I go out there and hang out with him in the barn once in a while. I could set up a telescope there, like I used to 50 years ago, but there’s a damn Mobil station there now, lighting up the whole area.